Power-operated awning



W. C. LANGDON.

POWER OPERATED AWNING. APPLICATION FILED APR. 27. 1920.

Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

. ATTORNEY W. C. LANGDON.

POWER OPERATED AWNING.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 27, 1920.

Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- INVENTOR 2m ag m m BY a 45 FIG. 9

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM G. LANGDON, 0F. WICHITA, KANSAS.

' POWER-OPERATED AWNING.

' Application filed April 27,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known .that I, WILLIAM G. LANGDON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Wichita, in the county of Sedgwick and State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Power-Operated Awnings, of which the following' 1s a specification.

My invention relates to power operated awnings, and its general object is to provide means whereby a movable awning may be moved to any desired position by merely opening and closing a valve.

An incidental object is to provide automatic means for locking the awning in any desired osition, and automatically releasing the ockigg means when the awning is imtially mov In the practice of the invention I employ as the motive power a fiuid under pressure,

and as air has certain advantages for the purpose I have illustrated an air-pressure system in the accompanying two s eets of drawings, in wh1ch-- Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a preferred construction for a power-operated awning; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view, partly broken out; Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional detail views; Fi 5 is a detail view of the brake, its cylin er and connections; Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are sectional plan views of an operating valve in three positions, Fig. 7

being the neutral, the section being made on line B-B, Fig. 9; Fig. 9 shows the operatin valve half in section, with connections; igs. 10, 11 and 12 are plan views of said valve in positions corresponding to Figs. 7, 6 and 8; Fig. 13 is a die ammatic elevation of air connections viewe on arrow :22 Fig. 1.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive: 1 is a horizontal shaft carrying the awning roller 2, to which one end of the awning 3 is fastened. A helical torsion-spring 4 is fixed within roller 2 and is tens'ioned by drawing 'the awning outward. T e outer edge of the awning is fastened to a ar 5, secured to a number of rack-bars 6. Each slide-baris supported in and by a box guide 7 which is shown as a rolled metal form. Said guides 7 are rigidly supported at the desired angle by the front of the building and by the rear portion of window enclosure 8, these latter su ports being omitted for clearness.

Elach rack-bar 6 is preferably a T beam, positioned with centre flange 6' down, and

. cular ports.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 25', 1922.-

1920. Serial No. 377,008.

gear teeth 9 are cut the full length of each ange 6. Fr1ct1on is almost entirel eliminated by means of rollers 10 carri by inper ends of bars 6, and rollers 12 journaled in outer ends of box guides 7.

. Under the awning roller 2 and below guides 7 1s a horizontal rotary shaft 14, ]ournaled 1n beari (not shown) mounted on the window casing 16. Keyed on said shaft are spur pinions 17 meshing the respective rack-flanges 6'. is construction nsures the uniform travel of the awning as it 1s moved in or out by spring 4 or the other means to be described.

The awning frame bar 5 is actuated outwardl by a .plston rod 18 entering a lon cylin or 19 through a stuffing-box 19', ro 18 having a doub e-gacked piston 20 slidably fitting the c lin er. Rod 18 is secured bar 5 at 21. 'ylinder 19 is supported at its outer end by being fitted in a hole cut in the front 22, also rearwardly by supports not shown. This cylinder is connected with a compressed-air reservoir 23 and with an operatmg valve N, by tubing to be described.

.comprises'a cylmdric body 24 having on its bottom 25 a seat in which are seven cir- The valve proper (26) fits said seat on 25 and has a stem 27 on which is the hand-lever 28. The valve is pressed to its seat by several springs 29-held in position by pins 30 entering a disk 31, held down by the valve-body-cover 32. The under face of valve 26 is formed with three separate segmental ports a, b, c, and a radial port d opposite the middle port I). The ports in part 25 are lettered on the drawing from e to is, inclusive. From port j a tube 33 leads to the outer end of the main cylinder 19. From ort k a tube 34 leads to the other end of sai cylinder. Short exhaust tubes 35, 36 are connected to ports 9, z, respectively, these tubes being open to atmosphere.

From reservoir 23, a tube 37 leads to port in the valve seat part 25. 1

With the valve at neutral (Fig. 7) the compressed-air supply is cut off from the cylinder as port I; has no communication with port a or port 0. Now suppose the awning to be in rolled-up position: to extend the awning, the operator turns the valve to position shown in Fig. 8. This admits compressed air to port It, tube 34 and inner end of cylinder, and simultaneously connects outer end of cylinder through tube 33 and ports j, z, to atmosphere. Piston is thus propelled outward, and may be arrested at any point by turning valve handle 28 to normal. To retract the awning, the valve is turned from neutral to position shown by Fig. 6. This admits compressed air to port j and tube 33, and connects. tube 34 and port It with exhaust port 9. I

There will of course be some leakage of fluid around piston 20 when the awning is extended; such leakage would permlt the piston and connected parts to creep inwardly, due to the force exerted upon the awning by torsion spring 4. To obvlate such creeping, I provide a s ring-set fluld-released brake, shown by .Flg. 5 in detall. At any point on shaft 1, 1 key a brake-drum 40. A brake-band 41 is secured to any fixture 42 and connects with a piston-rod 43 and piston 44 in a fixed cylinder 45; A11

expansion spring 46 urges piston 44 outward, thus tensioning band 41 on drum 40. A port 47 in cylinder 45 is connected to a T 48, to which a tube 49 is'connected, said tube leading to valve N, to port 6 thereof. T 48 also connects with two branch tubes 50, 51, in which are respective checkvalves 52, 53, opening in directions indicated. These tubes are res ctively connected with tubes 33, 34, as s own on Fig. 1; the latter supplying compressed air to' main cylinder 19. 7

Port 7 in valve seat part 25 is connected ,to atmosphere, for exhausting brake-cylinder 45,. Dperation:When valve N is at, neutral, air pressure is cut ofl" from brake cylinder. When valve is turned to either right or left, air pressure is admitted into tu es 33, 34, thence into tubes 50, 51, in one of which it will be cut off by a check-valve 52 or 53, but will pass through the other and enter cylinder 45, pushing out piston When the awn-' esired position, valve N is the brake.

The system here shown may easily benausea adapted for water or oil pressure operation by extending the exhaust tubes to a drainagilpoint or to an oil receptacle.

aving described my invention, I claim as new: a

1. In a roller awning, an awning frame mounted for inward and outward travel in its own plane, guides for said frame, a plston-cylmder mounted parallel to the line of trave of the awning-frame, the length of said cylinder being a piston in said cy inder, a rod secured to said piston and extending through a stuflingbox; parallel reciprocative rack-bars in said frame, a transverse bar connecting the forward ends of the rack-bars; said piston-rod being secured to said transverse bar; a manual operating-valve, a valve-seat provided with exhaust-ports and with a connection to a source of fluidvunder pressure,

and tubes for conveying fluid between the respective ends of said cylinder and said valve.

eater than said travel;

2. In combination, a roller awning, a re-- 'ciprocative awning-frame, shaft rotated by travel of said frame in either direction, a brake-drum on said shaft, a spring-set, fluid-released brake-band upon said drum, means for shifting the awn ng frame to any position between open and closed by fluid-pressure, said means comprisin a manual operating-valve, and means where y said brake-band is made slack by actuation of said valve to shift the awning in either direction.

- 3; In combination, a rotary shaft, pinions on said shaft, rack-bars each meshmgwith said pinions, a bar transverse to the rackbars and secured thereto, means to actuate a horizontal the transverse bar, an awning attached to,

said bar, a brake-drum keyed on said shaft, a brake-band on said drum, a cylinder, a piston therein, a piston-rod connecting the piston to the brake-band, a sprin tending" to set the brake and opposing the uid-pressure in the cylinder, and'means for admitting fluid to the cylinder. and venting fluid 100 therefrom.

LIAM C. LANGDON.

.Witnesses M. Y, CH1 

